Photographic camera



(No Model.) .2 sheets-sheen 1.

C. W. STIl-F 8v N. G. BOUSLEY. PHOTUGRAPHIG CAMERA.

ANo. 299,289. Patented May Z7, 1884.V

. 'n' l www N. PETERS. Phoxo-Lnhognphnr. wnshlngmn, D. C.

(No Model.) 2 sheets-sheet 2.'

C. W. STIP? 'at N. 0. BGUSLEY. PHOTOGRAPHIG CAMERA. 10.299.289 Patented May 27,1884.

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE CHARLES WV. STIFF, OF FOXBOROUGH, AND NATHANIEL C. BOUSLEY, OF

' SALEM, MASSACHUSETTS.

PHOTOGRAPHIC CAMERA.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent blo/299,289, dated May 27, i884.

l Application filed August 27, 1883. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.'

Be it known that we, Giras. W STIFF, of

Foxborough, in the county of Norfolk and State of Massachusetts, and NATHANIEL C. BoUsLEY, of Salem, in the county of Essex and State of Massachusetts, have invented certainnew and useful Attachments for Photographic Cameras, of which the following, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, is a specification. l

Our invention relates to an attachment for photographic cameras, and has for its object the more efficient regulationy of the time of eX- posure of the plate; and it consists in an apparatus for automatically closing the doors or slides of a camera at any predetermined time after the opening of the same, and mechanism of a novel construction and arrangement for regulating` the Working of the same, all as will be more readily understood by reference to the description of the drawings and the claims, to be hereinafter given.

In the drawings, Figure 1 represents aside elevation of our improved apparatus applied to a camera, but not in action. Fig. 2 represents an edge view of the door or slide operating mechanism. Fig. 3 represents a side elevation of our improved presser and timing mechanism as in action. Fig. 4 represents a plan of same. Figs. 5, 6, and 7 represent details, which will be more fully described further on in the specification.

Ais a photographic-cameraboX, of the usual construction, provided with two doors, B B, which cover the inner end of the lens-tube G, and are firmly secured to the shafts a a', mounted in suitable bearings, b b, secured on either side of the tube C to the camera A.

To the upper ends of the shafts a c are secured the rocker-arms c c', which are connected together by the connecting-rod d. To thelower end of the shaft c is secured a similar rocker arm, to which is secured the rod f, mounted loosely in the guide f', and having at its other end a thead or pad, f 2, which by `meansof the tension of the spring d', acting upon the rod d, is pressed firmly against and compresses the bulb D, which is made of rubber, of the usual construction, and is supported in place by the brackets g. The spring d acts, also,

tight.

to hold firmly in place the doors B B against the edge of the tube G when the apparatus is not in action. As shown in Fig. 2, the arme is secured to the shaft c, so as to move through an angle of about ninety degrees above its center, while the arm c rocks below its center, said arms being connected together by the rod d, thereby causing the shafts (t a, with their respective doors, to oscillate in opposite directions simultaneously. To the outer end ofthe bulb D is secured the rubber tube E, which-'has at its other end a larger bulb, F, which is of the usual construction. Ihese bulbsD E and tube E are connected together, so as to be perfectly air- By pressure upon the bulb E air is forced therefrom to the bulb D, inflatin'g the same tothe form shown in dotted lines in Fig. 1, thereby moving the rod f to the left, and operating the shaft c, and through rockerarms c c and rod d the shaft c', which opens the lids B Band allows the plate to be eX- posed. This arrangement of rocker-arms and connecting-rod to operate the lids B B in opposite directions is very simple and effectual, the advantage of which is obvious. The bulb F is placed between the frame G ofthe presser shown in Figs. 1, 3, and 4t, and the lever H,

which is pivoted at h to the brackets I I, which are firmly secured to the frame G. The tube E extends from the bulb F, between the uprights t' t', and over the'forked bracket j, to the bulb D. The Spring J, inserted between the longer arm of the lever H and the frame G, tends to separate the two.

' To the uprights t' t' is pivoted the nipperlever t, which is provided at one end with the projections i2 Q -one on either side of the bracket j and above the tube E in the fork of said bracket-and which is provided at its other end with the slot i3, into which projects the notched hook j', pivoted at its lower end to the bracket j'l, and pressed againstthe outer k2 of the frame K. The shaft 7a has secured rco also to it the ratchet-wheel 7c3, which has a pawl, 7u, mounted upon a gear, 7d, loosely iitted to the shalt L', so that it will not revolve when the spring is being wound, but as soon as the spring causes the shaft to take the opposite direction the teeth of the ratchet-wheel engage with the spring-actuated pawl k" and cause the gear to revolve with it, thereby revolving the pinion Z, into which it meshes. The pinion Z is mounted on the shaft Z, which has secured to it the gearwheel 12, which meshes into the pinion m on the shaft m and causes that to revolve together with the gearwheel mi, mounted on the same shaft therewith, which in its turn meshes into and revolves the pinion n on the shaft a', which also has secured to it the friction-disk a and fan n. The purpose ofthe fan a is to steady the motion of the clock-work in a well-known manner.

Against the under surface of the frictionplate n2 is pressed firmly one end of the lever o, pivoted at o' by the expansive force of the spring 02, thus operating as a brake and preventing the working of the gears when the lever H is not depressed.

To the upper part of the frame K is secured, by suitablesupports,` the dial M, on which the liner graduations (shown in the drawings at Fig. et) represent quarter-seconds, and through which extends the shaft 7;, to the endof which are firmly secured, so as to revolve therewith, the pointer la and milled head k7, by which the hand is set at any point desired. Vhen the clock-work is not in action, the pointer should be at zero-point. The ratchet-wheel 7s" should have as many teeth in a given angle as there are graduations in the same angle on the dial M, so that by moving the pointer three points the pawl k* engages with the third tooth from that with which it was engaged when in its normal position; and if the clockwork were allowed to run the ratchet would move said pawl, and with it the gear on which it is mounted,to its normal position, when the hand or pointer would again be at Zero-point.

To the upper surface of the fra-me K is secured a bracket, to which are pivoted abent lever, p, and a spring-actuated dog, q, the latter of which enters a slotin the end of the lever o farthest from the friction-disk a?, and is rmly pressed against the outer end of said slot by its attendant spring. The upper end oi' the bent lever p is in contact with the under side of the outer end oi1 the lever o, whileits lower end extends below the upper part of the frame K.

To one side of the frame G is pi'voted the notched lever 8,'which extends through a slot in the horizontal projection o' of the bracket a", which is iirmly secured to the shorter arm of the lever H rlhe spring s serves to press the levers against the outer edge ofthe slot in the bracket, so that the notch 8*' will the more readily engage therewith when in a position so to do. The upper part of the lever is provided with a bent arm, s, the object of which will be more fully described, Theframe G may be fastened to the camera-stand, if desired; or the presser may be used in both hands, like a lemon-squeezer.

Vhen the operator is ready and desires the exposure to take place, he sets the pointer at a graduation equivalent to the time he wishes the plate exposed, which, as shown in the drawings, is seven seconds. He then simply presses the longer arm of the lever H down as near to the frame G as possible7 and then the apparatus will do the rest. By pressing down upon the longer arm of the lever H the bulb F is compressed, and the air contained therein forced through the tube E into bulb D, inilating the same, as shown in dotted lines in Fig. l, there by causing the head and rodf to vmove forward, which rocks the rock er-arms c and c and the shaft a, with its lid B, through an angle of ninety degrees, and the arm cbeing connected by the rod d to the arm c' on the shaft a', that also is moved, at the same time rocking the shaft, with the lid BQ through the saine angle. To prevent the tension of the spring il', acting through the rocker-arms c c, shaft a, and rodj", from pressing any ofthe air back into the bulb F, the projection u is firmly secured to the lower surface of the shorter arm of the lever H, which projection, as it is raised with the shorter arm, comes into contact with the notched hook j', disengaging it from the lever t, and thus allowing the spring to press down the outer end of the lever i, thereby bending the tube E overthe forked bracket between the projections fr, thus preventing any air from returning (as shown in Fig. 5) and keeping the lidsBB in the positions shown in dotted lines in Fig. 2 until the nippers i are withdrawn from the tube E. By the pressing down of the longer arm ofthe lever H the horizontal pro jection of the bracket 1", secured to the shorter arm, is raised, so that it engages with notch which is provided with a shoulder, on which the proj cction rests and h olds the lever H in the position shown in Fig. 3. At the same time, by the depression of the longer arm of the lever H, the lower end of the bent lever p is brought against the bent arm p', iirmly secured to one ofthe brackets I, thereby moving the lower' end outwardly, and consequently the upper end inwardly, thus lifting the lever o so that the notched dog may engage therewith and prevent the other end of the lever' 0 from coming in contact with the 'friction-disk ai, thereby allowing of the working of the'gears. It must be understood that the engagement of projection r with the notch s? of the lever s, the nipping of the tube E, and the starting of the clockwork all take place simultaneously. At that point the pointer starts from the position in which it has been placed and steadily moves toward zero-point, at which point it stops, the arm fu, secured to the shaft 7.', having come in contact with and disengaged the dog q from thelever o, allowing thc spring o2 to press its end of the lever against the disk IOC' IIO

n2, stopping the mechanism. -At thesame time the arm fw, also secured rmly to the shaft k,

comes into contact with the bent arm s3 of the lever s, disengaging the notch s2 from the pro- 5 j ection o of the bracket r', thusallowing the lever H to regain its normal position, in order todo which it is necessary that the shorter arm should move downward in an arc about its pivot. During this downward movement of the short arm the plate x, secured thereto, comes into contact with one end of the lever i', depressing the same so that it is engaged by and held by the notched hook j', thereby raising the nippers i2 2 from the tube E, thus allowing the air to come back from the bulb D to the bulb F, when the lids B B are closed by the tension of the spring d. By the present use of the dry-plate process the interval of exposure should'be very exact, which it is impossible to acquire by any of the present means, where the operator must be very skilled to expose his plate an exact second, while by our apparatus the plate may be exposed readily for any interval that may have been determined upon, even to a very small fraction of a second.

As shown in the drawings, the apparatus will expose the' plate one-quarter second, as the shortest interval; but the plate {may be' exposed a much shorter space of time by replacing the ratchet-wheel k3 with one having as many more teeth in a given angle, to give the required movement to the gear h5.

Any suitable expansive chambers may be any way altering the principles of our invention.

\Vhen it is desired to open the doors or lids B B for the purpose of adjusting the camera, and to keep them open for an indeiinite length of time, it is simply necessary to operate the presser G H, to compress the bulb F, as before described, but without previously adjusting the clock-work, or, in other words, allowing the pointer k to remain at zero-point. The notched lever s will operate to keep the bulb F compressed and the nipper -lever e" will close the tube E, as before mentioned; but the clock-work will not operate, inasmuch as the arm o, mounted upon the shaft 7c, will remain in contact with the hook or dog q, which, being pressed backward by said arm c, will rest against the end ofthe slot in the lever o,

' through which said dog q projects, and thus form a stop to prevent the shaft 7c from revolving, even though the lever o be removed from contact with the'friction-disk n2. When it is desired to again close the doors B Bf, the operator will press upon the upper end of the "6o lever s, so as to disengage it from the projection r, and the par/ts will then return to their normal position.

lil/hat we claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States, is-

1. In combination with a photographic camera, a mechanism to be worked by the operused in place of the bulbs D and Fwithout in ator, and arranged and adapted to open the lids or shutters `of the lens-tube, a device for automatically locking and retaining said lids or shutters in'their open positions, and a timing mechanism arranged to be set in motion by the operation of the shutter-opening mechanism, andto release said locking device and.

permit the closing fof said lids or shutters at the end of any predetermined interval of exposure. 4

2. A pneumatic device adapted to open the lids or shutters of a photographic camera. and at the same time set in motion a timing mechanism, which will automatically close the same at the end of any predetermined interval of exposure.

3. A presser adapted to open the shutters of a photographic camera by forcing air into an expandingchamber, to keep said shutters open by preventing the return of the air by any suitable mechanism, and at the same time to set in motion a mechanism that will automatically release the air from said chamber at the end of any predetermined interval of exposure, thus allowing the lidsto close.

4. The combination" of the lever H, pivoted to the frame G in any suitable way, the bracket r', with its slotted horizontal projection o", the spring actuated lever s, provided with the notch s2, the bulb F, the tube E, and the bulb D, in conjunction with a suitable mechanism for operating the lids or shutters of a photographic camera, substantially as and for the purposes specified.

5. The combination of the spring-actuated nipper -lever t, the forked bracket j, the spring-actuated hook j, all attached to the frame G', and the projection u and plate m, secured to the shorter arm of the lever H, all adapted to operate substantially as and for the purposes described.

6. The combination of the presser G H, spring J, the projection fr, the lever s, provided with the notch s2 and bent arm s, and the. arm w, attached securely to the shaft 7c of the clock-work, all adapted to operate substantially as and for the purposes described.

7 The combination of the dial M, the pointer 7c, the ratchet-wheel 7c3, the pawl 7a4,

4the gear h5, and the spring 7c', all adapted to operate substantially as and for the purposes described.

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8. The combination of the friction-disk n2,

the spring-actuated brake-lever o, the bent lever p, the spring-actuated dog q, the arm o, securely fastened to the shaft 7c, and means for operating the lever p, substantially as and for the purposes specified.

10. The combination of the lids or shutters In testimony whereof we have signed our names to this specification, in the presence of two subscribing Witnesses, on this 25th duy of August, A. D. 1883.

CHARLES W. STIFF. NATHANIEL C. BOUSLEY.

W'itnesses:

WILLIAM I-I. Govn, JOHN W. PORTER. 

